Deputy Director of FBI Andrew McCabe decides to step down

Deputy Director of FBI Andrew McCabe decides to step down

According to multiple reports FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was supposed to retire in the upcoming months, is stepping down.

A career civil servant who was named deputy director in 2016, McCabe has been a common victim of Republicans claiming systemic prejudice towards President Trump at the top levels of the bureau.

McCabe superintended the dubious inquiry into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a secret email server. The GOP has blamed him for a dispute of interest in that case because his wife acquired almost $500,000 in political contributions from Clinton associate Terry McAuliffe in a state council bid that predated the investigation.

The Washington Post published, in December, Andrew McCabe decides to step down to retire when he became qualified for pension advantages in early March. Trump, who has been among McCabe’s toughest reviewers, described the progress as “racing the clock to retire with full benefits.”

A spokesperson for the FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump, as early as July, had called for McCabe’s ouster, asking, “Why didn’t A.G. Sessions replace Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a Comey friend who was in charge of Clinton investigation?”

In December, he tweeted, “How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during an investigation?”

As a civil servant, McCabe cannot be discharged without definite proof of wrongdoing.

According to reports published by the bureau in November, Andrew McCabe recused himself from state corruption matters in Virginia as a consequence of his wife’s nomination in 2015. However, he was not informed by bureau executives to move backward from the Clinton inquiry when it started some months later.

McCabe shortly ran the bureau after Trump dismissed former Director James Comey, who was then replaced by present director Christopher Wray.

Andrew McCabe has endured one of the most questionable times in the FBI’s archives, as Republicans have resumed claiming that the bureau inappropriately decided to tilt the balance in Clinton’s favor in the 2016 presidential election.

The agent, Peter Strzok, disparaged political figures of both parties in the texts, including Trump, whom he called an “idiot.” The agent was removed from Mueller’s team earlier this year.

Republicans are also trying to make unrestricted a controversial memorandum authored by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) claiming surveillance abuses at the Department of Justice. McCabe is listed to be specified by name in the report.